Interview With Claire Stevens

AUTHOR: Welcome, Claire Stevens, and thank you for being our interview guest!

CS: Thank you for having me here! I’m not used to getting this much attention. I hope I’m not too boring!

AUTHOR: (laughing) I doubt that! Your story is amazing and we all love reading about it. So, Claire, tell me, what was it like to grow up in 1960s America?

CS: It was great! So many changes were happening! I have older brothers and I knew all the ’60s music and dances when I was 4 years old. My parents are from The Greatest Generation and my grandmother lived with us for a few years too, so I really got to hear about the past and the present at the same time.

AUTHOR: What was school like?

CS: I went to parochial school from Kindergarden to the 12th grade. It was different I guess from going to public school. I was sheltered from so much of what went on back then, at least in some ways. The nuns were strict. Our skirts had to be a certain length and we were not allowed to wear nail polish or makeup. Not even in high school.

AUTHOR: Wow. Did you have a boyfriend?

CS: No one special. I dated a bit. It was hard because my high school was girls only so the boys I met were from other schools. I had a good friend who went to Paterson Catholic – that was coed. I never missed one of their dances so I met boys there.

AUTHOR: (giggle) Do you bring any stories from those dances into CounterClockwise?

CS: Yes! One in particular is great!

AUTHOR: Your dog, Bobo, was very special to you. Tell us about him.

CS: This huge wolly mammoth of a dog showed up on our front porch one Winter morning. I was seven years old. My mother was going out to do the grocery shopping and I remember her leaving and coming back about a minute later, telling us, “You won’t believe what’s on the front porch.”

I ran out there and saw Bobo for the first time. He was about a year old or two old, weighed 130lbs., and had long curly poodle-type hair that stood out in all directions. His hair was wet and some of it had ice frozen in it. He looked a little scared at first, but then started wagging his tale and licked my face. It was love at first sight.

AUTHOR: He sounds like a beautiful pet! Now, let’s talk about your past-life dreams. What was it like when they first started?

CS: Nothing special really. I thought it was just a very intense dream. It was a little strange that I remembered so many details. I never had that happen before.

AUTHOR: When did you realize that the dreams were about you?

CS: Not for a long time. I was past twenty. It hit me one day that the girl lin the dreams, Margarita, was actually me. I knew she looked like me and I loved her like a sister. Like a twin I had from the 1840s. Crazy I guess, but that’s how I felt.

AUTHOR: How about the other people in your dreams? Your mother and father? How do you feel about them?

CS: Total devotion to both of them. They have a big problem at one point. They split up for a while. But even though that happened I still felt in awe of them. All the time.

AUTHOR: What’s the biggest difference between you and Margarita?

CS: There isn’t much of a difference really. She was born in 1831. I was born in 1957. That’s the big difference. We think alike, and I know that I’d make the same decisions she made because I actually did make them. The same would be true if she were in this time period. But….there is one thing she had that I may not have……

AUTHOR: And that is??

CS: She had more opportunities than I did. Her family in Mexico was very wealthy and influential. My parents were blue collar folks and we did not have much money. Both my father and mother knews lots of people, but, my circumstances growing up are very different from Margarita’s.

AUTHOR: How do you see this series unfolding? And what would you like to see happen?

CS: Since it’s fiction, there are lots of fun things that can happen. One of them would be to see a good friend come into Margarita’s life who looks a lot like me! (laughing) But seriously, I think that one thing I’d love to see more of is the Mexican family and their village and all the intrigue that goes on with them.

AUTHOR: That sounds great – maybe you’ll get your wish! Thanks again for being here, Claire Stevens! We’re all looking forward to hearing much more about you and that big wooly dog of yours in future books!

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This series is one of the most touching, creative, honest, and just plain interesting I’ve ever read. It’s great as a first fiction effort for you, Nancy. I love the way you draw your characters, make women badasses in one way or another, and make the guys hot but not ridiculous in the perfect looks department. Much love to you girlfriend!!!